Uninvited
by BlueMilagro
Summary: Miskatonic med student Imogen Phillips was always the level-headed one in her family, until the day she met her lab partner and heard his theories. Now it is all she can think about. Two-shot. Part Two is in the works.
1. Breakfast of Champions

****Author's notes, before starting:****

I don't own Herbert West, Dan Cain, Meg Halsey, Miskatonic University, etc, so on and so forth. I do, however, own rights to this story's new character, Imogen Phillips, named for my favourite singer (Imogen Heap) and one of my favourite writers (HP Lovecraft, of course!).

Also, if there are some story inconsistencies, such as incidents involving Rufus the cat, please forgive me. I am doing my best to keep things a by-the-book as possible. Alot of the time, though, I'm just rollin' with it, man. :P

For anyone interested, I am currently in the process of writing out a full-length follow-up story to this, and having this remain a stand-alone as a sort of prologue. At the moment I write this (late night, 25 Aug 2011) I am approximately twenty-five pages in and it's coming along somewhat smoothly. Outside of the four pages you are about to read, Herbert West is an exceptionally complex character to write, moreso than you'd imagine. :)

That being said, here we go.

"Uncharted Territory"  
by BlueMilagro

_"Like anyone would be  
__I am flattered by your fascination with me  
__Like any hot-blooded woman  
__I have simply wanted an object to crave  
__But you, you're not allowed  
__You're uninvited  
__An unfortunate slight_

_"Must be strangely exciting  
__To watch the stoic squirm  
__Must be somewhat heartening  
__to watch shepherd meet shepherd  
__But you, you're not allowed  
__You're uninvited  
__An unfortunate slight_

_"Like any uncharted territory  
__I must seem greatly intriguing  
__You speak of my love like  
__You have experienced love like mine before  
__But this is not allowed  
__You're uninvited  
__An unfortunate slight_

_"I don't think you unworthy  
__but I need a moment to deliberate..."_

~~ "Uninvited" by Alanis Morrissette

Chapter One: Breakfast of Champions

Sometimes you're sure you have yourself figured out, and that's when, without fail, something or someone comes along to challenge it.

I sat on the edge of the class and watched him leave. Oh, was Dr. Hill furious with him. But the strange young man with the intense dark eyes sparked some sort of curiosity in me that I had more and more trouble ignoring as time wore on. I knew that his side of the argument our class had witnessed between him and Dr. Hill had resonated with me to some degree, but I wasn't sure if it was also the glance he'd given me before he finally stalked out of the lab that gave me chills, as well.

I'd been a student at Miskatonic for nearly two years when he showed up. In from Switzerland or Austria or someplace around there. For the longest time I prided myself on being the level-headed and sane one of my friends, my family, et cetra, and now, the more I thought on what the newcomer had said, the more I felt I needed to know. Was it truly possible that the brain could live on ten minutes after the death of the rest of the body? But my friend Megan said I should keep a wary eye on that one; apparently he started rooming with her boyfriend, and he gave her the creeps. Kept to himself, mostly, down in the lab he'd set up for himself in the basement of the house. Some nights, he wouldn't even come up at all.

I sat at the cafeteria one morning, alone, picking at my meager breakfast whilst completely lost in thought. So much to do this week: double-time in lab, dissections of the heart, liver and lungs, and two essays to complete before the end of the month. Mind you, there were only ten days left in said month. I was trying to decide which was more important- hygiene or sleep- when a voice caught me off guard, causing me to jump slightly.

"Mm, yes, it really isn't much, is it?"

"I- I'm sorry?" I looked up to find none other than our mysterious, dark-eyed stranger. He pushed his glasses back up his nose, sitting across from me and motioning to my picked-at tray of "food" as he placed his own in front of him.

"The food. Nothing to write home about, I'd say."

I recovered from the shock in a fair enough amount of time and nodded, allowing for a chuckle. "Aah- yes, it's- oh, dear," I laughed fully. "It _is_ quite disgusting, now, isn't it?"

The young man had been with us for a long time- months, even; we had lab together six days a week for two hours at a time, as well as a two and a half hour lecture session afterwards. We even sat together as partners. Yet, for the first time in all of this, I saw him smile in amusement. It was a small smile, but it was there, nonetheless.

"Yes, I hear they feed what we don't eat to the cephalopods at Arkham Zoo."

"And do _they_ eat it?"

"Mmm," he shook his head, his eyes narrowing. I was surprised to see that the smile hadn't left yet. "Even _they_ know better."

I laughed again, and we were quiet as I continued picking at what, incidentally, was supposed to be strips of bacon. I could see them now, the little cephalopods, being dropped unwanted bits of unidentifiable meat into their tanks as they swam off, disgusted, as quickly as their little tentacles would allow. Aaw. I giggled.

"West, right?"

"Yes. Herbert West."

"Right. I… I hear you spent time in Switzerland."

"Austria, actually, yes..."

"What brought you here?"

And he didn't say anything at first. A chill went up my spine. "Dr. Gruber... taught me everything I needed to know." It was when he made eye contact with me again that I really gave a shiver, hoping he hadn't noticed. He held my gaze for a few moments before I averted my eyes to fidget with the ring around my middle finger. I broke out into a cold sweat. Maybe Megan was right, maybe he was not one to be messed with. But then why in the hell did I find him so intriguing? It was as if I was stuck in the middle of a black hole: I was desperately clawing my way out when really, it was in vain. I was being sucked in. I knew he was watching me, and it felt like I was on the other end of the microscope; I wanted so badly to slip out from under his scrutinizing gaze, yet there was some small part of me that didn't care. That secretly reveled in it.

There was some small, utterly terrifying thrill in the idea that I had absolutely no idea what he was thinking.


	2. An Unlikely Partnership

"Uncharted Territory"  
Chapter 2: An Unlikely Partnership

"_Marie Sklodowska Curie, the only person to ever be awarded two separate Nobel Prizes in two different scientific fields, was born on November 7th, 1867, in Warsaw and moved to Paris at the age of twenty-four..._

"Gods, my paper sounds like something a ten-year-old would write," I shook my head, grinning as I glanced over the opening to one of my essays. "Marie and Pierre Curie would be furious."

"Imogen, it sounds fine!" I made Megan giggle.

Tuesday afternoon found Megan and me studying in the library down in Pickman Hall, cramming for our first anatomy test of the quarter, as well as working on one of our essays. Megan had been concerned for her boyfriend's missing cat, said even the cat was creeped out by West. Now that the cat was missing it made Megan even more nervous. I told her it was probably nothing, but still, that tingling, precognitive feeling in my gut told me otherwise. I told her I would look into it. Plus, it would give me an excuse to sneak a peek at this lab West was slaving away over, because honestly, when I wanted to study while Megan was taking some time off from studying to be with Dan, I needed someone to bounce ideas off of.

I made my way over to Dan and West's place; Dan and Megan were at her dorm and Dan had said West was dissecting his cadaver's liver at the morgue. They gave me the key and I slipped in, leaving my books in the front room, along with my Miskatonic University sweatshirt. It was unnervingly quiet, to the point where my ears would play tricks on me. There was a sound from the second door on the left as I made my way down the hall. Slowly pushing the door open, I realized I'd discovered the basement. Wooden steps lead down to a concrete floor; West must have left the lamps on, for the floor was flooded in light. It was when I was about halfway down the steps, pretty much beyond the point of being able to turn back unscathed, that I realized my ears weren't deceiving me.

West was working at the desk, his back to me, and for a moment he moved ever so slightly to reveal the dish on the desk as the container for Dan's missing cat, who was very much dead. His neck was bent at an unnatural angle, and my heart leapt to my throat. West made his way over to the fridge to pull from its shelves bottles of a glowing yellow liquid that reminded me of hi-lighter fluid. Filling a syringe, he plunged the needle into the back of Rufus' mangled neck, injecting the "hi-lighter fluid" into the cat's spine. It took about twenty seconds or so, but finally, to my absolute astonishment, Rufus began to move, growl and claw at West's hands as they furiously scribbled over his notepad. "Twenty-one seconds to reanimation..." The sound of the cat's unnatural howling and jerky movements made my stomach churn, and I started seeing stars.

I must have made a sound then; something gave me away, for it was then that West jumped up and whirled around. I clutched at my stomach, feeling as if I would be sick.

"Dammit, Phillips! Do you not know how to knock?"

"Oh, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, what..." I gagged. "What have you done? West, what..." I began to shake. Here I was, a second year med student, and I was getting sick at the sight of this slight horror. My head spun. He was pissed, I could look at his face and tell that much, but he grabbed ahold of me as I started to go to my knees.

"You're going into shock," he sighed, guiding me up the stairs and away from the carnage. I gripped his hand tightly, sinking into the sofa, and he wrapped me in a blanket. I could have sworn I heard him chuckle. "For such a hardened medical student, your stomach seems to have its limits."

"S-so it w-would se-em," I stammered, glancing at him.

"Do you want any water?"

I nodded, and he went for the kitchen.

"The c-cat?"

"I wouldn't worry about him," West's voice drifted out to meet my ears. "His spine is snapped in two different places. He will not be going anywhere."

_Oh, for the love of God._ And that's when I blacked out.

"Phillips. Phillips!" West's voice and aggravated sigh were the first things I recognized as I came to. I was as he'd left me on the sofa, only this time, he was crouched in front of me, his hands on my knees.

"You left me there for a moment, Phillips," he cracked the slightest of darkly bemused smiles as my eyes fluttered open. I could feel a cool hand brush across my forehead as my tired eyes registered the face in front of me: the dark, messy hair; the dark and mostly unnerving eyes; the glasses; the crooked smile. "Here," he handed me the water, having picked it up from where he'd left it on the floor when he'd realized I'd lost my marbles. I gulped it down greedily, muttering a "thanks" as I handed him the empty glass.

"How long was I out?"

"Oh, only a few minutes, I'd say. Four, at the most."

"Mmm..."

"How do you feel?"

I shrugged, reaching up to push light brown curls from my face, realizing that's what he must have been doing. "Alright, I suppose." The spots on my legs where his hands met my knees tingled.

West nodded, and his face reverted to stoic crypticism. "You _should_ have knocked, you know."

"I needed to know, West."

"Know...?" His confusion was only partially feigned. There was a piece of him that knew what I was talking about.

"What exactly did this Grueber teach you? And what was that argument with Dr. Hill about, as well as why you two seem to hate each other so much?" West stared at me. His eyes were windows; I could look in and see the wheels turn as he processed all of it.

"And mostly..." I took in a shaky breath. "What is that yellow crap you keep in your lab? The stuff you used on Rufus."

He sighed, his eyes narrowing. "I almost suspected this would happen. You were always one of the more curious and attentive students in the class. I believe the phrase... 'gung-ho' could be applied here."

A small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. It was funny hearing him use such modern terminology; I was so accustomed to the fact he wasn't quite from this time period, but one from the past. "'Gung-ho,' huh?"

We smiled awkwardly at each other. And for a moment, we sat in silence. It was now my turn to study his face. He was so hard to read.

"What are you thinking, West?"

He gathered his thoughts. "I am debating upon whether or not you are to be trusted."

Realizing I had the strength to do so, I sat up, thereby leaning in towards him. His eyes affixed more intently upon mine and he looked up at me. I looked into his eyes as I placed my hands on his, and with two words I succumbed to the madness, the uninvited that sat gazing up into my eyes.

"Show me."

**FIN.**


End file.
